Diálogo con mi sombraPedro Juan Gutiérrez

FICTION | 2017 | 262 pages

In Diálogo con mi sombra, Pedro Juan Gutiérrez delves into the art of writing. It is at the same time an splendid making-of reel on his own work, which has become a modern classic of Latin American literature.

Pedro Juan, the diabolical character that is the star of most of Pedro Juan Gutiérrez’s books becomes here an relentless inquisitor, who continuously corners and demands explanations of his creator. With the efficiency of a machine gun, Pedro Juan shoots one question after another –some of which are very malicious– to the author, who tries to answer with patience, serenity and an extraordinary acuity.

Everything that might be interesting to Pedro Juan Gutiérrez’s legions of addict readers can be found in this book. From his childhood and youth to his most brilliant ideas on writing as a very serious game; irreverence and obscenity as a surgical tool, central Havana as a brutal and hyperrealist set; the role of sex; the vague borders between fiction and reality; what it means to be a writer in the Caribbean; the role of the antihero and everyday life, as well as many other aspects of his work.